Beauty is inherently political.

In reading Pretty Modern: Beauty, Sex and Plastic Surgery in Brazil, I was immediately reminded of Amanda Bynes’ breakdown circa 2014. Initially, I was worried about her well-being, having self-diagnosed her with Edmond’s ‘dysmorfobia’ – or the fear of appearing disfigured and transference of that fear to different parts of the body. Bynes would boast multiple surgeries, rocking post-op nose gauze and neck braces as fashion statements, conveying her personal validation from being repeatedly cut open, rearranged and augmented. As a sophomore, I saw Amanda Bynes as an example of beauty activism emphasizing choice as the one absolute: you can look however you want to, because criticizing other women for engaging in beauty practices that you personally wouldn’t entertain is anti-feminist. After this reading, I have an entirely different perspective: considering Edmond’s research on aesthetic-related forms of mental illness, and how in some cases cosmetic surgery can be helpful when combined with psychotherapy, while in other cases these aesthetic-related mental illness can reveal themselves in the desire for multiple plastic surgeries. This consideration can blur the lines of what kind of plastic surgery is justified/when it is justified, and can easily be co-opted by the neoliberal “self-esteem” and promotion of self-help to manipulate people into feeding their coin to skeevy corporations under the false notion of becoming more “authentic,” or that they are solving a psychological issue. ***WHICH OF COURSE IS A REAL CONCERN DYSPHORIA/DYSMORPHIA EXISTS BUT I’M JUST EXPLORING ALL ANGLES HERE
The phrase “no one lives in a vacuum” is a running phrase in this class, and I think it is important to consider it with this reading in relation to the outside factors affecting how and what is modified in cosmetic surgeries. Let’s look at Amanda Bynes again, she had her breasts and butt augmented, several nose jobs with the goal of a “pinched” nose in mind, and the whole botox-lip filler combo. It’s impossible to know exactly what is going through her head, however undeniably, there are outside forces and standards of beauty affecting what she chooses to modify on her body. And, whatever Bynes is doing to her body is under the misnomer that each surgery will improve how she feels; or her self-esteem. To add onto these outside factors, the California Task Force to promote self-esteem’s existence proves the neoliberal agenda-created term of “self-esteem,” and the corporate manipulation behind selling this notion of “self-esteem,” as investing in becoming your best self. So, putting this all together, maybe Bynes has dysmorfobia, maybe she doesn’t, but every time she goes under the knife it is not of her own personal choice. To some degree her choices on what is beautiful and even the decision to self-improve by spending hundred of thousands of dollars to look “beautiful” are made for her.

6 thoughts on “week 14: pretty modern”

Utilizing the example of Amanda Bynes in order to argue the placement of the line between body dysmorphia and body modification, and the justification for certain kinds of plastic surgery, was very poignant. Keeping in mind the norms that have grown out of white supremacy and ethnocentricity, the image of the thin, white, female is something that has technically been achieved by Bynes. During the early-mid 2000s Bynes was an extremely popular comedic actress, and growing up watching her, I thought she was the epitome of beauty at a very young age. This contradiction brings up the question of what can we do when the norm doesn’t fit the norm? I think that with respect to the concept of dysmorfobia, it seems as though this culture perpetuates it. For example, it has been reported that individuals may become addicted to plastic surgery, undergoing more and more surgeries until it begins to damage the person’s health. In comparing this sort of addiction to the high that some people experience after receiving a tattoo may complicate this picture. I find it interesting that body modification in the sense of tattoos and piercings is perceived as acceptable by more liberal groups, while body modification by way of cosmetic surgery is not. It seems as though where these two forms of body modification may differ is in the fact that, at the end of the day, tattoos seem to depart from standard societal norms. However, I pose that as tattoos become more popular, certain subcultures will make beauty demands of this nature. Nevertheless, one might argue that one does not typically get tattoos to cover up certain parts of their body, or alter certain parts of their body, that they may feel self conscious about (although, I’m sure some people do). Either way, I’m not really sure what my stance is on plastic surgery and other forms of body modification. I think that until all bodies are considered legitimate, I will be skeptical of cosmetic plastic surgery and the “normalization” of individuals bodies. – Gaby Bruce

I thought it was really interesting that you decided to talk about Amanda Bynes. That’s someone I hadn’t thought about in a long time, so I actually had to look her up to see what she looked like now. I have mixed feelings on this matter because I still hold the same belief that we cannot shame a person for getting plastic surgery because it’s their choice to do with their body what they want. However, I do agree that there is something to be said about the amount of mental illnesses that can be revealed through repeated plastic surgeries. But again I’m experiencing some tension because not all people who engage in plastic surgery have mental illnesses. it’s very hard and problematic to group people together, especially based on the commonality of one action: getting plastic surgery.

I think that you bring up a valid point that Edmunds touched upon about how to know when the plastic surgery will alleviate or worsen an individual’s mental state. I am curious to know if the reason that some people are “incurable” and are never truly satisfied by how they look, even after surgery, is because they have been exposed to more culture/media, they are more easily impressionable towards what is deemed “beautiful,” or perhaps a combination of the two. And for those individuals who undergo cosmetic surgery and are overjoyed by the results of their “new” self, is this only a temporary cure? If aesthetics continue to shift, which it seems they inevitably do, will these people who once viewed their altered self as beautiful now feel the push to change themselves yet again to maintain their level of self-esteem? Or, are they already confident enough in who they are and therefore, choose to maintain their current, already altered, identity? It seems that no matter what, plastic surgery is only a temporary fix for “healing the mind through the body.” Plastic surgery is a perpetual cycle of transformation, but ultimately, what is the end goal? How can women ever learn to love themselves if this requires them to completely reinvent and change themselves?

In talking about plastic surgery this week, I have been fascinated by the fact that, in most criticisms of plastic surgery, it is the individuals who choose to have certain procedures done who are given the brunt of the blame rather than a cultural climate that puts women under a microscope and discourages them from being happy with their bodies. This can absolutely be seen in the ways that media outlets and tabloids “report” on celebrities who elect to get cosmetic surgery, exemplified perfectly in the case of Amanda Bynes and the article you posted above. These choices are often criticized, with the celebrity in question being publicly torn down even more for making that decision. Even in supposedly feminist critiques of cosmetic surgery, like the Jezebel article, the focus is again on the patients, as they are the easiest part of this to turn into a spectacle. In doing so, I feel that critiques of cosmetic surgery as a “cure” for low self esteem fall into the exact same trap as those who condone and support surgery as a quick fix for confidence–playing into the same idea that individual self esteem is the problem to be dealt with, rather than the larger issues that are the cause of this low self esteem. -Laila

This reminded my of lecture today and the debate we had on when enough is enough. There is a very fine line between body dysmorphia and body modification. There is only so many symptoms one can show before we can determine if cosmetic surgery is causing harm to someones body or if they are mentally in a better place because they are changing themselves physically. Edmonds mentions in a paragraph how self-esteem seems completely comprehensible when put in terms of religion because it is about transcending the self through the mind and not entirely the body. I wonder if people who feel better about themselves after these surgeries, having this sort of feeling within themselves. It is just interesting to think how close the boundaries are and how self-esteem’s context and concept changes when in a different situation or place.

It’s so interesting how you choose to look at Amanda Bynes’s breakdown as a representation of the problems inherent in Hollywood culture and the dysmorphobia that come along with living your entire life on screen for so long. I didn’t even realize it, but that idea is so present n all professions where your physical aesthetic is a key factor in your job. I can’t help but draw a connection to this as I myself have a sense of dysmorphobia as a dancer because my body is my own instrument. I have never not had a dancer’s body, and I realize that a lot of my relationship to food has developed around that fact. I also appreciate how you take her own agency into account as we have come to understand through this class, that very rarely are a Hollywood starlet’s choices to modify their body is truly their own. Through and through, I’m beginning to understand more and more just how deeply the threads of societal pressure and neoliberalism come together to create a standard of living for women that is not only unrealistic but drastically unhealthy for the development of a culture that women consume daily through all the advertising we’re exposed to.

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